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Monday, 2 September 2013

Functional Colour

the notion of a
“functional” colour – colour that does something for or with or to you – was
common in the 1950s, and not only in advertising. A revolution was underway in
the way products and environments were colourised, one in which architects and
interior designers actively participated. Coined by colourist Faber Birren in
the 1930s, "functional colour" was a banner that symbolised an
empirical system of colour selection. This paper tests Birren's intentions
against the application of colour at Lever House in New York, one of his most
favoured architectural examples. The New York headquarters of Anglo-Dutch fats
and oils conglomerate Unilever and its subsidiary Lever Brothers, much
attention was lavished on the colourisation of both its outside (by Skidmore,
Owings & Merrill) and its inside (by Raymond Loewy Associates). And yet,
most historical study of Lever House to date hasn't penetrated its sleek,
blue-green skin to reveal the colour systems at work within. Just what function
did these colours have? Please either use the embedded reader below or click HERE to read the text.